Very First Fried Chicken

Have you ever made fried chicken? I hadn't.

I've made baked, "breaded" chicken and I've made cutlets, which is beef or pork breaded and fried, but I had never made friend chicken. Guess that goes to show how far North I must live. ;)

My sister and I (absurdly) married fellows who share a birthday. Since they only just got married, we agreed we had to do something with the four of us, and settled on cooking dinner at their brand new house.

Growing up, my family's birthday tradition was that my mom would make your favourite meal (or whatever you requested) on your birthday. My sister and I tried to get our husbands to name their favourite meal so we could cook that, but neither would. So I suggested mashed potatoes and cutlets, which was probably the most common birthday meal in our family. Everyone agreed, and my sister and I went out to buy the groceries. We found everything except the cutlets... So we bought chicken fillets instead, and called it good.

I breaded the chicken, and as I was setting them in the frying pan, I realized I was making fried chicken. The two guys then thought it completely absurd that I had never made fried chicken, although I've never even had homemade fried chicken.

Anyways, I was really concerned that making it gluten-free would make it less good, but everyone was amazed at how good it was and insisted they couldn't tell.

I used white rice flour, rather than a GF flour blend, and I bought some rice bread crumbs, both of which I doubted.

I followed my mother's instructions on making cutlets. I mixed some seasoning salt into the flour, then coated the raw chicken in that. Then it got a raw egg bath, before being covered in bread crumbs and dumped in the frying pan. My sister got a fancy-dancy fried chicken frying pan for her wedding, which is extra deep and has a screen lid. I had probably an inch of melted margarine in the pan (forgot to pick up olive oil, might try coconut oil next time), and I fried it until it looked done. I warned everyone to cut into the chicken to check for doneness, because I was too afraid of burning it.

This left us with tender chicken meat, covered in crispy breading, which was tasty, moist, perfectly cooked, and paired with mashed potatoes perfectly. Also, something that my fast-food-deprived-mouth was excited to eat (read: reminded me of a lot of restaurant food I haven't been able to enjoy).

Very simple birthday dinner, but something that I enjoyed cooking and will definitely be making again.

Chili's Grill & Bar in Regina

I don't spend a lot of time in Regina, so I don't know it very well. When my husband and I decided to meet my brother and his wife in Regina for a late lunch, I pulled out my phone and did a quick search on Urbanspoon for gluten-free friendly restaurants. Chili's came up, and I am always in the mood for Mexican food (even lame Canadian-ized Mexican food), so I basically insisted we go there.

When we got there, I flipped through the menu, hunting for anything that said anything about gluten-free. On the very last page, I found a note that said "Gluten menu available upon request."

First of all, restaurants really need to work on their phrasing. I don't want a "gluten menu". I want the exact opposite of a "gluten menu". I also don't want "gluten friendly menus" like most restaurants offer. I realize their intent, and I understand that a "gluten friendly menu" will have gluten-free dishes listed, but I would prefer if they called it "Gluten-free friendly" or "Gluten aware" or something that actually suggests there is no gluten.

Anyways... I tracked down a hostess and asked her for a gluten-free menu, and she said "We don't have any." I pointed out the note on the menu and she explained, "Yeah, we used to have them, but our whole menu changed so now we don't." Okay, so you got new menus. I get that. But your new menu says you have a menu for me, but you don't, because you got new menus. Hmmm.

Whatever, I can handle that. The hostess said the waitress would be able to point out some options for me, so I waited for the waitress. When she came, I explained I have a gluten allergy, and asked what I could eat. She said "Well we have corn tortillas available, so basically whatever you want."

Umm, no. Nope. It doesn't work like that. But okay, I'll play your game. My husband wanted an appetizer of chips and salsa, so I asked about that, and she said the chips are corn chips.

"Okay, but are they deep-fried?"

"Yes."

"Are other contaminants deep-fried as well?"

"I don't know."

"Can you check?"

She ran off to the kitchen, although I already knew the answer. I wasn't having any chips. I really just wanted to prove a point, and make her realize how severe my gluten-free-needs are.

When she returned, I asked about the fajitas. She didn't even ask which fajitas, she just told me I could get them with corn tortillas. Well, the chicken on one was marinaded, and on another it was rubbed. Either could contain gluten, so I sent her back to ask again. She came back telling me the marinade was a lime-something-or-rather, so I could have it. I gave up at that point, and ordered those fajitas.

The fajitas were delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed them, but I was also really frustrated. In my opinion, that was not a gluten-free-friendly experience, but rather an "I'm sure you can eat something" experience. If they'd actually had a gluten-free friendly menu, I might have had a fine time. As it was, I did enjoy my food, and I didn't get sick, but I just really wasn't impressed with the service.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this place. If you have strict gluten-free needs, find a different restaurant. If you want Mexican food, there's a ton of places that make better Mexican food. If you want to go to Chili's, go to Chili's, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Freezer Meals: Teriyaki Chicken

The second meal to come out of my freezer and into my slow cooker was teriyaki chicken.

Ingredients
Medium - large bag of carrots
Red onion cut into large chunks
2 large cans pineapple (undrained)
4 garlic cloves
4 chicken breasts (or eight chicken thighs)
1 cup teriyaki sauce
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze
Directions for bags:
Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to pot. Cook low 6-7 hours. Serve over hot rice.

 It was super easy to throw everything in the bag, like easier than the other ones. The only part that took any time was the carrots. I wasn't sure from the recipe what to do with them, so I julienne'd them through my mandoline. The original recipe called for chicken breasts, but my grocery store was absurdly out of chicken breasts, so I substituted chicken thighs, and left them whole.

BBQ Chicken and Potatoes in a Slow Cooker

When I don't have much time to prep dinner, I steer towards my slow cookers, because I can put something together at lunch and then eat it a few hours later. When I don't plan for something specific (and find ingredients and a recipe), then I fall back on one simple guideline: Potatoes, chicken, flavour. It's simple, low-prep and fool-proof. I usually have chicken and potatoes on hand, whatever flavour I use can vary from spices to sauces, whatever I'm feeling or whatever's handy.

I buy baby potatoes, and we like eating them with the skins on. You could peel and cube larger ones, but slices of potatoes also works well. You want to cover the whole bottom of the pot.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes. I love the flavour, the texture, the colour. I love how they can be dressed up in brown sugar and cinnamon and taste like a desert or be covered in savoury spices and make a great side to a breast of chicken.

[Fun fact: A yam is a plant that grows large starchy tubers, and while sweet potatoes are large, starchy tubers, they are not actually yams, although places in the US call them that. Google it.]

Flavours of India

I have a friend who is really into India. Indian food, culture, dress, music, movies; you name it, she loves it. I've never met someone who is as into Bollywood movies as she is. She's taking belly dance classes. She raves about Bollywood actors. She's adorable.

Every time we're in Regina, she wants to go for Indian food, but either I wasn't sure about what I could eat, or the people with us weren't into Indian food. I like it well enough. Well, I had already eaten a small dinner before our most recent trip in, so I didn't care if I couldn't eat anything. I can at least eat rice, right?

So we decided to go to Flavours of India. She had been there several times and already loved the place, but I had no idea what to expect - gluten-free wise.

The restaurant itself is very nice. Everything about it from the decor to the music feels like I just walked into a small portion of India, but it's very clean and classy. It's not overbearing, and it's very welcoming. Just the right kind of atmosphere.

EE Burritos in Saskatoon

This weekend, I finally got a chance to go back to EE Burritos. M & I went there in February, before I was diagnosed, and I haven't managed to get back since. I remember loving the food, but I had no idea how they were for gluten-free.

EE Burritos is this little restaurant on the corner of Ave P & 22nd St. It's not exactly a nice area, and as far as I understand, Ave P has quite the reputation. The restaurant is in a strip mall, and entering it is a little weird. They also host a small Latin American grocery store, so you enter into that, and the restaurant itself is to your left. The dining room is large, with several tables and a bar, and enough room to easily maneuver between the tables.

La Bamba Cafe in Saskatoon

On Sunday, my husband, best friend and I had dinner at La Bamba Cafe. It's another one of those hidden gems. It's just off of 8th St, which is a busy thoroughfare, but the restaraunt is in a strip mall that includes a dry cleaner, a pet groomer, a confectionery, a dentist, and a Christian Science bookstore. It looks a little sketchy, and I questioned that I was in the right place, and then I wondered what I was about to walk into.

Curry, a Delicious Meal in Photos

I mentioned last time that Banana made me curry, but I didn't elaborate. I couldn't tell you how to make it, because she starts with a package of curry paste from Thailand, and follows their instructions. But I will show you pretty pictures!

Curry paste and coconut milk

Stirred and added strips of chicken

Added slices of zucchini

Cooked down a little and added cooked potatoes

Curry is pretty food. It's all so orange, that the lighting looks awful, but it wasn't. I promise.

Day 83: Unemployment and Spicy Chicken Rub

I think unemployment suits me. I had a great day today. I wish I could have a lot more days like today, but I start at my new job tomorrow. So that's poopy, but whatever.

I cleaned, and organized some things and cleaned some more. I made a spicy rubbed chicken for dinner. It was a great day.

The chicken was great. I got the recipe from my new Cooking Light Gluten Free cookbook. I found it at the library, and fell in love, and decided it was the one and only cookbook for me. I've been looking for it (passively) everywhere, and Banana found it for me! At Chapters, it was the only one left, and the only one in the province. Apparently I'm the only person in the world who realizes how amazing this cookbook is.

The spicy rub is really basic, just a mix of a few spices. The book says you can rub it on fish, chicken, and steak, or whatever. I only made enough for two pieces of chicken, and Hubby barbecued it, just to see how it goes. I really liked it, and so did he, so I'll definitely be making it again.

Day 73: Roast Chicken in a Slow Cooker

Well, today was the day of my big family dinner. It actually went really well, food was devoured, and forks were not thrown. My sister did throw a spoon at me, but at least it wasn't a fork. Or a knife!

I started the day around nine this morning, with three chickens in my sink.

I said that to someone yesterday, and apparently she thought I meant like dead chickens, but with their heads and feathers... Gross. No, I mean raw, ready to cook fryer chickens. My mother and I agreed on slow cooker whole chickens, because yes, I have three crock pots that will fit a whole chicken. And I have two more that are too small. I have a crock pot problem.

Anyways, I guess I actually started with potatoes and carrots. When slow cooking chickens, you need to put something between the chicken and the crock pot. You can quarter some potatoes and loosely wrap them in foil, you can throw some whole carrots down, you can chop onion, carrot and potato if you like. I opted for the last one, but I quickly discovered my onion had gone bad, so it was just carrots and potatoes.

I rinsed two pounds of baby potatoes, and roughly chopped a pound of carrots and divided them between the crock pots, so that all of the bottoms were covered.

Then I mixed up a few spices in a bowl.

I took each chicken one by one and rinsed it, patted it dry with paper towel, rubbed it down with the spice mix, set it in a slow cooker, and tossed two or three garlic cloves inside. I put two of the chickens with their breast bone up, and one of them with the backside up, and the only difference I noticed was that the breast-down one came out in one piece, whereas the other two came out in about twenty-five pieces. That could be several other factors too, but I would suggest putting it breast bone down.

And then I put the appropriate lids on, and turned them all on low. I put them on at 9:30, and the first chicken came out around 5:30, with the last one coming out closer to 7. Around 4, the chicken in the biggest crock pot (with the most room) starting falling apart, and within an hour, it had collapsed completely. It doesn't need to be that dramatic, but you should see the meat starting to pull away from bone. And that means you have juicy, succulent, fall-of-the-bone chicken, with little-to-no effort.

I also made mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus, and served the potatoes and carrots from the bottom of the slow cookers. They were well cooked, and very savoury. I didn't plan on serving them, but we ran out of mashed potatoes and all the menfolk were complaining. They were delicious enough to have served them in the beginning though. Oh, and I also made gluten-free gravy with the chicken drippings from the slow cookers, and a gluten-free thickener I bought for stew (that I never made).

Roasted Chicken in a Slow Cooker

1 fryer chicken

2 cups roughly chopped vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions, etc.)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

2-4 whole garlic cloves

Put the chopped vegetables in the bottom of the crock pot.

Mix all of the dry spices together. Rinse the chicken, then pat down with a paper towel. Rub spice mixture all over the chicken, and under the skin of the breast.

Set the chicken on top of the vegetables, then place the garlic cloves inside the cavity.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or high for 4-5 hours, until the meat starts falling off the bones.





Day 64: Grad Banquet

Banana graduates from college this weekend! Congratulations, Banana!

The graduation ceremony is tomorrow, but the banquet was tonight. Each grad gets two extra tickets, so their parents can come. Since Banana's parents live in Thailand, her siter flew in from BC, and I got the other one.

I agreed to go months ago, long before I knew anything was wrong with me. As the date loomed, I got a little nervous. I haven't done a banquet yet, or anything where I serve myself from a table of food options. I meant to eat before I left, but I didn't really. So I shoved a box of crackers in my giant purse. Because that's a normal thing to have in your purse.

During the mingling portion of the banquet, I said hi to a few people I knew, and I tried to meander past the serving tables to get a look at what my options were, but it was hard to do, and most of the dishes were covered. Ah well, it was too late to do anything about my options.

Then the MC announced how the tables would be going, and added that everything on the tables except the pasta salad and one salad dressing was gluten free. I was impressed. But which dressing? I had to hunt down a staff member and ask. It was the ranch. Also, the buns at the front of the table were also not gluten free. Obviously.

So I had a great meal with some chicken, mashed potatoes, a couple types of salad, and gravy! They had gluten free gravy. As in, they didn't have gluten-ey gravy!

I was really impressed, and my tummy was happy.

I love trendy college kids who insist on eating gluten free... but only en masse. On an individual basis, I tend to hate them.

Day 53: Stuffed Chicken and Roasted Asparagus

I made the most amazing dinner tonight. I have a hard time cooking classy delicious things that my husband enjoys. I'm a big fan of things like goat cheese, alfredo, parmesan... He doesn't like cheese that isn't cheddar or mozza.

But I did make something! Cream cheese and herb stuffed chicken breast with roasted asparagus. Hmm?

I also threw some potatoes on the side, because hubby didn't know if he'd like asparagus, so I made something else just in case.

I sliced open the chicken breast, and then spread garlic and herb cream cheese on it, and then spooned in some fresh herbs that I'd blended with butter, specifically parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Next time, I'd mix the spices with plain cream cheese, and use a little less. I stuck toothpicks through to keep it closed and placed it in a corningware pan and drizzled a little olive oil over top. Baked it for 30 minutes at 400F. It was hard to check for doneness because I didn't want to cut the chicken. The olive oil in the pan turned green because of all the fresh spices in the chicken.

After cutting off the bottom bits of the asparagus, I rinsed it and placed them on a pan. I drizzled about four tablespoons of olive oil over top, and then sprinkled sea salt and cracked pepper. Roasted them for about 15 minutes at 400F, until I could stick a fork in them easily.

The potatoes were baby potatoes that I quartered and then put in a frying pan with olive oil, until they were done. The temperature was pretty low the whole time, so I could time all the dishes for the same time.

All in all, delish! Really classy dinner, without a lot of work. The most work was probably slicing open the chicken. I have a hard time cutting straight.

Day 44: Moxie's and Saskatoon

A few days ago, one of my friends texted me to inform me that I was going to be kidnapped today and taken to Saskatoon. That's the biggest city in the province, and it's a 2.5 drive from here.

So, today, I was not in fact kidnapped, but I did willingly get in a car with two of my friends and we drove there. Halfway there, we stopped at an A&W because they were hungry (I packed snacks and ate before we left), but all I can eat there is condiments and milkshakes. I got a strawberry milkshake, no mustard, thanks. And then I drove the rest of the way there, because eating poutine or burgers and driving is not fantastic. Lesson learned: A&W is a bust.

In Saskatoon, we had a ton of fun. We spent most of the afternoon at the big mall there, and went jean shopping, shoe shopping, and I made one of the girls try on several pairs of fluorescent pants. We also went to Lush, which is easily my favourite cosmetics store! They have so many amazing smelling things, and innovative products, and everything's natural and handmade.. Okay, I'm not a commercial, but I could spend all of my money there every paycheck and be perfectly happy. But, sadly, I was broke. Both of my friends bought a couple cosmetics, and they both bought henna dye.

I mentioned yesterday to Banana that I wanted to dye my dark hair again, and asked if she'd do it tomorrow. It's been blonde since August, but I guess I'm getting bored of it. I'm actually not. I'm loving being blonde, but I'm not loving the upkeep. Bleaching my roots every six weeks? And it never bleaches the exact same, so I have so many different shades of blonde throughout... Anyways. I decided we'd dye it dark again tomorrow, and Banana said she wanted to dye her hair again too, a lighter brown, or a red maybe.

So we found this henna dye at Lush. I've seen it before, and I'd love to do it, but it says that if you've bleached or lightened your hair, it will come out much more dramatic. So using henna to go red will make me look like Ariel, and that's a no-go. Sigh, I'll just use unnatural chemicals to artificially colour my hair once again.

But the other two girls saw them, and Banana decided she'd try the henna instead of a dye, because her hair is close enough to natural to look fantastic with it, so she bought the red one, and then the other girl thought that was awesome and bought the chesnut one. They're both going to come over tomorrow and we'll all dye hair together. We're all going a little bit red too, which is kind of funny, but I don't think we'll look all twin-sy.

ANYways... So, we had a blast shopping, and then went for dinner! I googled gluten free restaurant options in Saskatoon, and we decided to go to Moxie's. They don't have a dedicated gluten-free menu, or even specifically gluten-free dishes, but a few blogs said they will accomodate and there are a few dishes that just don't have gluten.

Oh my gosh, I loved it. I told the waitress right off the bat that I had a gluten allergy. She said that whatever I order, she'll ask the manager if they can make that gluten free, and then the manager will supervise my dish, and bring it out to me. Wow. I was really impressed. She also said the mango chicken was for sure gluten free, and then other dishes like rice bowls with naan bread could be removed. I debated a few options, but went for the mango chicken in the end.

One of the other girls got the mango chicken too, so when the manager brought our food out, he handed Banana hers first, and then announced a mango chicken, and then my "Allergy". That's what he called it. Haha. But my cooked veggies looked different than the other cooked veggies. Everything about my dish was totally separate and sacred. So impressed. We also got dessert, and again, the manager assured me my espresso mousse was gluten free, and he brought it out again.

Everyone was really nice about it all, and they made totally sure everything was safe. This is by far the best restaurant experience I've had since I was diagnosed. Very impresseed. The celiac forums told me to stay away from Moxie's, but I disagree. I also didn't feel sick once later tonight. Very, very impressed. Why does Moxie's have to be so far away from home?

The other two girls got several drinks, but I have decided not to drink. I know there are gluten free alcohols, but I decided that until I figure everything else out, I'm not going to try to figure that out. It's easiest to just avoid liquor. Soooo, I drove home. Which was fine. Driving for two and half hours at night with two tipsy friends is far superior to driving for two and a half hours with a dog in the backseat, like I did several times this winter.

I had such a blast today. Really good to get out of the city and not have complicated eating times.

Day 42: Cornflake Chicken

I guess our stomachs took a trip to see my sister-in-law down in Georgia tonight. We had mashed sweet potatoes and cornflake chicken. I said all we were missing was lemonade and watermelon. Not that I'd actually know. I've never been to any of the "Southern States". As in, I've been to Arizona and California, but not Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, etc... But I wanted breaded chicken, so I made gluten-free cornflake chicken instead.

I took a few drumsticks, dipped them in some spices, slathered them in mayonnaise, and then rolled them in crushed cornflakes and then baked them. I really liked how they came out, but hubby's not a fan of any part of a chicken that isn't boneless skinless chicken breasts, so... He also said they'd be better deep-fried, but I am not going down that route.

I mixed some garlic powder, onion powder, cracked pepper and sea salt in the first bowl. You could use any spices you felt like, and you might be able to get away with omitting them. I just dabbed the chicken in the spices, or sprinkles them on top of it.

I squeezed a bunch of mayonnaise into the second. I actually had to add more after that picture above. I use squeeze mayonnaise because there's no chance of somebody sticking their knife in the jar with breadcrumbs all over it.

And the last bowl is gluten-free Nature's Path corn flakes. I put them through my blender, because they're bigger and thicker than normal Cornflakes, so I couldn't crush them in a baggie. Liberally roll your chicken in this bowl, and get as much to stick as possible.

And then they go onto a wire rack over a roasting pan and bake! I cooked them at 350F for 30 minutes, and then bumped it up to 400F for another 10.

This was honestly my fix for all my KFC cravings. Not as finger-licking good as the real thing, but certainly yummy.

Day 12: The beginning of chickpeas.

This morning, just after my husband left for work, he realized he forgot to give the dog her meds, and to take his own meds. Apparently he usually does them together so as not to forget either. So I gave the pooch her meds, and agreed to bring him his at lunch. I then texted my boss to let him know I'd be a tad late, because I slept in a bit. I have a really chill job. Then I texted the hubs to ask where his pills were. Awhile later, after wondering why on earth my husband hadn't texted me back, I opened my phone and discovered I mistakenly sent "Where are your pills?" to my boss. So it could have been a lot worse, but I was pretty embarrassed. When I got to work, he just laughed and said he'd once sent a slightly embarrassing text to one of the engineers instead of his wife.

So that's my funny story of the day. And the highlight of my work day. I have a very chill, very boring job.

For dinner I did some experimenting! I found a bag of baby carrots that are getting kind of old, and cooked those up and glazed them the way my mom always did. She'd always cook sliced carrots, and then stir them with some butter and some brown sugar. I once asked her how much, and she said, "Enough." So yeah, I know they're not "healthy" per se, but they are veggies, and they are delicious.

Feeling inspired by my pulse cookbook, I also cooked a bunch of baby potatoes, and then mashed them with some chickpeas. Someone said you hardly notice once they're mashed. I didn't taste anything different, but they were visible. We're out of milk, so the potatoes were dry in general, but that was my husband's only complaint.

I also fried some plain chicken breast with seasoning salt, another one of my mom's classics. Dinner was good, and felt healthy, even if it wasn't by "healthy eating standards" it was by ours. Ah, now you know. We've never eaten healthy. We're very unhealthy eaters. Have been since we got married. We're all drive-throughs and taco nights, and hardly ever have fruits or veggies in the house.

We went to Bulk Barn after dinner. I read a recipe for a gluten-free flour that is supposed to make things taste gluten-y, and I wanted to try it, but I didn't have any of the ingredients. So I bought about a cup of all the flours, and a very expensive bag of xantham gum, which I've read makes everything better when baking. I also picked up some gluten-free cookies, but shhh....

And actually! The cookies taste legit. Check them out. Kinnikinnick Food's KinniToos Vanilla Sandwich Creme Cookies. They're basically blonde oreos. I was gonna buy the chocolate ones (so normal oreos) but I was afraid of disappointment, so I bought ones that were more different from what I normally eat. I might try the chocolate ones now, though. I've heard good things about Kinnikinnick (if you can spell their name) on the celiac forums, and I might check out more of their products now.

Anyways... I mixed up that flour mix, but I just don't have the energy to make cookies right now. I want to make a batch of cookies with each of my gluten-free flours now, so I'll try to do that tomorrow. Oh, but the flour mix... One of the flours is oat flour, so it's really not like 100% gluten free. And the coconut flour smells amazing. I've never smelled flour that smelled so good. I just kept sniffing it. Mmm... I wanna make cookies with just that flour.